Portable single serving drinking vessels for hot beverages such as coffee or tea provide numerous advantages over multi-cup beverage brewing devices. The portable aspect of a single cup brewing drinking vessel allows for the preparation and enjoyment of a hot beverage in any environment, including but not limited to when traveling, camping, in the office, or when at home. In addition, the single serving portion of a portable single cup drinking vessel allows for the quick preparation of an amount of beverage that is appropriate for one person. Preparing a single serving in a multi-cup beverage brewing devices often results in the disposal of unused portions of the beverage, which equates to a waste of materials, energy to keep the beverage warm, and money. Another advantage of the portable single cup drinking vessel is cleanliness and the elimination of bacterial or viral exposure associated with the preparation and handling of most communal multi-beverage brewing devices.
There have been a number of approaches to meet the needs of a single serving beverage brewing and drinking vessel but there exists a need for an automatic, easy to use portable device. A simple single serving beverage brewing device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,478,586 issued to Conner, and describes generally a French press, or a device that holds a quantity of infusible material and has a means to plunge the infusible material through the liquid. This device fails to provide a means to heat the liquid, requires the user to deal with loose quantities of infusible material, and is not designed to drink from.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,609 issued to Lake, a beverage brewing kit is described that comprises a cup and a cylindrical filter support for receiving infusible material. Again, this invention fails to provide a means to heat the liquid, and requires the user to deal with loose quantities of infusible material, has multiple large parts and is not portable.
Therefore, there exists a need for a portable automatic beverage brewing device that heats a liquid and automatically brews a beverage, and is designed to drink directly from.